Pokemon GO: How to Beat Arlo (June 2022)

Pokemon GO's constant stream of events and new features has helped keep Niantic's genre-defining ARPG fresh after almost seven years. One early feature that has remained consistently popular is the addition of Team GO Rocket, who can be found causing trouble in the wild and at Pokestops. Pokemon GO players can take on the Team GO Rocket leaders to earn powerful Shadow Pokemon, but they're not easy to defeat.

Team GO Rocket leader Arlo is back this month with a team consisting of mostly Dragon, Psychic, and Steel-types. This gives players a few options for taking him on, with Ice and Fire-type Pokemon being good choices, as well as Fighting and Bug.

Arlo's First Pokemon

An Exeggcute sitting in the grass in the Pokemon anime

Like all the Team GO Rocket leaders, Arlo always begins with the same Pokemon. Exeggcute is a Grass/Psychic-type Pokemon and therefore is weak to Bug, Dark, Fire, Flying, Ghost, Ice, and Poison attacks. It is resistant to Electric, Fighting, Grass, Ground, Psychic, and Water attacks.

Exeggcute Counters

Yanmega - Bug Bite/Bug Buzz
Reshiram - Fire Fang/Overheat
Darmanitan (Galarian Standard) - Ice Fang/Avalanche
Pinsir - Bug Bite/X-Scissor

Arlo's Second Pokemon

Arlo's second Pokemon can be either Dragonite, Exeggutor (Alola), or Salamence. This means that all three are weak to Ice and Dragon, making these types the best picks overall.

Dragonite Counters

Dragonite is a Dragon/Flying-type Pokemon and therefore is weak to Ice, Dragon, Fairy, and Rock attacks. It is resistant to Fighting, Fire, Grass, Bug, and Water, and immune to Ground attacks.

Togekiss - Charm/Ancient Power
Sylveon - Charm/Moonblast
Darmanitan (Galarian Standard) - Ice Fang/Avalanche
Mamoswine - Powder Snow/Avalanche

Alolan Exeggutor Counters

Alolan Exeggutor From Pokemon GO Cropped

The Alolan variant of Exeggutor is a Grass/Dragon-type Pokemon and therefore is weak to Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Ice, and Poison attacks. It is resistant to Electric, Grass, Ground, and Water attacks.

Darmanitan (Galarian Standard) - Ice Fang/Avalanche
Glaceon - Frost Breath/Avalanche
Weavile - Ice Shard/Avalanche
Mamoswine - Powder Snow/Avalanche

Salamence Counters

Salamence is a Dragon/Flying-type Pokemon, and therefore is weak to Ice, Dragon, Fairy, and Rock attacks. It is resistant to Fighting, Fire, Grass, Bug, and Water, and immune to Ground attacks.

Palkia - Dragon Breath/Draco Meteor
Regice - Lock On/Blizzard
Giratina - Dragon Breath/Dragon Claw
Mamoswine - Powder Snow/Avalanche

Arlo's Third Pokemon

Arlo's third Pokemon is his most dangerous, and can be either Scizor, Gardevoir, or Steelix. Unfortunately, there are no common weaknesses shared by all three. However, both Steelix and Scizor are weak to Fire due to their Steel-type, making that a good choice.

Scizor Counters

The Pokémon Scizor — Scizor in the anime

Scizor is a Bug/Steel-type Pokemon, and therefore is only weak to Fire attacks. It is resistant to Normal, Steel, Psychic, Dragon, Bug, Grass, Ice, and Fairy, and immune to Poison attacks.

Heatran - Fire Spin/Flamethrower
Darmanitan - Fire Fang/Overheat
Charizard - Fire Spin/Blast Burn
Blaziken - Fire Spin/Blast Burn

Gardevoir Counters

Gardevoir is a Fairy/Psychic-type Pokemon, and therefore is weak to Poison, Steel, and Ghost attacks. It is resistant to Fighting and Psychic, and immune to Dragon attacks.

Metagross – Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash
Chandelure – Hex, Shadow Ball
Dialga – Metal Claw, Iron Head
Gengar – Shadow Claw, Sludge Bomb

Steelix Counters

Pokemon Fan Makes Impressive Gold Steelix — Pokemon Steelix

Steelix is a Ground/Steel-type Pokemon, and therefore is weak to Fighting, Fire, Ground, and Water attacks. It is resistant to Normal, Rock, Steel, Dragon, Flying, Bug, Psychic, and Fairy, and immune to Poison and Electric attacks.